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An Affair to Dismember


Elise Sax - 2013
    That’s why Gladie is more than a little skeptical when her Grandma Zelda — who is more than a little psychic — recruits her into the family’s matchmaking business in the quaint small town of Cannes, California. What’s more, Gladie is also highly unqualified, having a terrible track record with romance. Still, Zelda is convinced that her granddaughter has her clairvoyant “gift.” But when the going gets tough, Gladie wonders if this gift has a return policy. When Zelda’s neighbor drops dead in his kitchen, Gladie is swept into his bizarre family’s drama. Despite warnings from the (distractingly gorgeous) chief of police to steer clear of his investigation, Gladie is out to prove that her neighbor’s death was murder. It’s not too long before she’s in way over her head — with the hunky police chief, a dysfunctional family full of possible killers, and yet another mysterious and handsome man, whose attentions she’s unable to ignore. Gladie is clearly being pursued — either by true love or by a murderer. Who will catch her first?

My Secret Sister


Lauren Westwood - 2021
    I should have made the bargain, paid the price – anything to avoid being right here, right now.A voice whispers in my head that I can’t silence. This is all your fault. You killed her. It’s her voice, the one I hear in my nightmares. The woman who stole my memories, the woman who stole my life. And, this time, I know she’s right.”How far would you go to save your child?Claire is living every mother’s worst nightmare. Her daughter, Jess, has been diagnosed with a rare illness and desperately needs a bone marrow transplant. With no match on the registry, Claire turns to a charismatic geneticist for help and embarks on a Genetic Journey to seek a familial match for her daughter.On the other side of the country, Marianne suffers her eighth miscarriage. Her perfect life is rotting underneath, but she is determined to do whatever it takes to have a baby.When DNA test results reveal that Claire and Marianne are half-sisters, Claire must face the dark lies of the past and make impossible choices about the future. Is her secret sister the answer to her prayers, or will she cost her everything?My Secret Sister is a tense and emotional family drama with a moral dilemma at its heart. Fans of Liane Moriarty, Jodi Picoult, and John Marr’s The One will be gripped.

A Place to Call Home


Carole Matthews - 2014
    Boarding a coach to London, all Ayesha wants is a fresh start. Hayden, a former popstar, has kept himself hidden away for years. He's only opened up his home to two people - Crystal, a professional dancer with a heart of gold, and Joy, an ill-tempered retiree with a soft spot for waifs and strays. When Crystal asks Hayden if Ayesha and Sabina can stay with them, he reluctantly agrees and, as different as they may be, they quickly form an unlikely bond. So when enemies threaten their peaceful home, they will do all they can to save it and each other. Uplifting and emotional, this is a novel of new beginnings, of discovering love and of finding A Place to Call Home.

When You Were Mine


Lisa Swift - 2019
    After meeting at university, they now live in the village of Applecroft on the beautiful West Country coast.Okay, so Ibby’s gay and prone to disastrous dates, while couples’ counsellor Maggie spends her days helping people with their relationship problems despite having no sex life of her own. Nevertheless, they’re devoted to bringing up teenage daughter Amelia – the result of a drunken one-night stand when they were students – in a stable and loving family.Until a face from the past – in the form of hard-partying rock star Jordan Nash – disrupts their quiet lives. As Jordan struggles with his personal demons and old secrets are revealed, can Maggie and Ibby stay strong? Or will bringing back the past threaten all that they’ve built in the present?A feel good, heart-warming novel about about first loves and second chances. Fans of Holly Martin, Dani Atkins and Heidi Swain will be captivated.Lisa Swift is the pseudonym for bestselling women's fiction novelist, Mary Jayne Baker.

Liar, Liar


K.J. Larsen - 2010
    It taught her everything she needed to launch the Pants On Fire Detective Agency. Now armed with spy glasses, camera and chocolate, Private Investigator Cat DeLuca catches cheaters. She scales balconies and dangles from hotel windows to nail the 8X10 glossy that'll sweeten a client’s divorce settlement.Life takes a strange turn when a reporter for the Chicago Tribune (Rita Polansky) masquerades as a client with a liar-liar husband. Rita retains Cat to follow Chance Savino, a seriously hot guy with a pocketful of smuggled diamonds. The detective is fast on his heels when an explosion hurls her out of her sling-backs and into the hospital. The FBI claims Chance Savino was killed in the blast but concussed Cat’s choppy memory plays a different scenario.Cat escapes the hospital to meet with her client. When Rita fails to show, Cat finds her at home with a knife in her chest. Cat learns the reporter was researching a ball-buster case involving a gangster, gun smuggling, and a pocketful of diamonds. She discovers two clues at the murder scene: a clutch of Starburst candy wrappers and the “dead” Chance Savino rummaging through Rita’s drawers.As no one else sights Chance, everyone around Cat believes she’s crazy. Everyone except a determined killer who’s added Cat to his “kill” list. A botched attempt puts ex-husband Johnnie Ricco on the short list of suspects. When the bullets start flying, Cat will need more than chocolate for back-up. This is Cat’s first big case and she’s determined to prove she’s more than a hootchie stalker. The question is can Cat, catcher of cheaters, catch a killer before he gets her?Cat DeLuca is an unlikely heroine and her partner, a beagle named Inga, is quite likely to eat the evidence. K.J. Larsen’s characters sizzle to life. Liar Liar delivers steamy romance, intrigue, and laugh out loud humor for a wickedly delicious read.

The Marriage Code


Brooke Burroughs - 2021
    But after turning down her boyfriend’s proposal, everything starts to crumble. In an effort to save the one thing she cares about—her job—she must recruit her colleague, Rishi, to be on her development team…only she may or may not have received the position he was promised. (She did.)Rishi cannot believe that he got passed over for promotion. To make matters worse, not only does his job require him to return home to Bangalore with his nemesis, Emma, but his parents now expect him to choose a bride and get married. So, when Emma makes him an offer—join her team, and she’ll write an algorithm to find him the perfect bride—he reluctantly accepts.Neither of them expect her marriage code to work so well—or to fall for one another—which leads Emma and Rishi to wonder if leaving fate up to formulas is really an equation for lasting love.

What Happens in France


Carol Wyer - 2019
    It was now or never” Bryony Masters has been looking for her long-lost sister, Hannah, for years, but when their father has a stroke her search takes on new urgency. So when primetime game show, What Happens in France, puts a call-out for new contestants, Bryony spots the ultimate public platform to find her reality TV-obsessed sister, and finally reunite their family.With the help of handsome teammate Lewis, it’s not long before she’s on a private jet heading for the stunning beauty of rural France. With a social media star dog, a high maintenance quiz host and a cast of truly unique characters, Bryony and Lewis have their work cut out for them to stay on the show and in the public eye.Yet as the audience grows and the grand prize beckons they find that the search that brought them together may just fulfil more than one heart’s wish… This heartwarming romantic comedy of friendship, family and laugh-out-loud adventures is perfect for fans of Kirsty Greenwood, Colleen Coleman and Marian Keyes. What readers are saying about What Happens in France: "Wow, wow and double wow....What a fantastic, fun and beautifully written book this was" Reader review"Left me with tears in my eyes and wanting more. A hilarious and touching tale." Sue Watson, author of Love, Lies and Lemon Cakes"Carol Wyer is back! Laughs aplenty and a heartwarming read.' Mandy Baggot, author of One New York Christmas'A refreshingly different romcom that's sweet, funny and moving in all the right amounts.'  Victoria Cooke, author of The Holiday Cruise"Fantastique and frivolously funny - but for goodness sake, read with a box of tissues!... A sensational story that will sweep you up in spontaneity, sympathy and endless smiles." Isabella May, author of Oh What a Pavlova and The Cocktail Bar."Funny, lighthearted, romantic and utterly fabulous. This book is a chicklit fan's dream" Reader review

The Seven Day Switch


Kelly Harms - 2021
    What a difference a week makes in a heartfelt, laugh-out-loud novel by the Washington Post bestselling author of The Overdue Life of Amy Byler.Celeste Mason is the Pinterest stay-at-home supermom of other mothers’ nightmares. Despite her all-organic, SunButter-loving, free-range kids, her immaculate home, and her volunteering awards, she still has time to relax with a nice glass of pinot at the end of the day. The only thing that ruins it all is her workaholic, career-obsessed neighbor, who makes no secret of what she thinks of Celeste’s life choices every chance she gets.Wendy Charles is a celebrated productivity consultant, columnist, and speaker. On a minute-by-minute schedule, she makes the working-mom hustle look easy. She even spends at least one waking hour a day with her kids. She’s not apologizing for a thing. Especially to Celeste, who plays her superior parenting against Wendy whenever she can.Who do Celeste and Wendy think they are? They’re about to find out thanks to one freaky week. After a neighborhood potluck and too much sangria, they wake up—um, what?—in each other’s bodies. Everything Celeste and Wendy thought they knew about the “other kind of mom” is flipped upside down—along with their messy, complicated, maybe not so different lives.

Friends of the Library


Susan Cushman - 2019
    . . a beautifully wrought hymn of praise to readers and book-lovers in the most sacred of places, the libraries where we find both." --Cassandra King, author of the best-selling novels The Sunday WifeWHEN ADELE COVINGTON becomes an author in her sixties, she goes on a book tour to speak to the Friends of the Library groups in ten small towns in her home state of Mississippi. Chasing her personal demons through the Christ-haunted South of her childhood, Adele befriends an eclectic group of wounded people and decides to tell their stories. From Eupora to Meridian, from a budding artist with an abusive husband to a seven-year-old with a rare form of cancer, each story contains elements of hope and healing and honors the heart, soul, and history of the Magnolia State.

Snow Falling


Jane Gloriana Villanueva - 2017
    With these tumultuous events as inspiration, Jane’s breathtaking first novel adapts her story for a truly epic romance that captures the hope and the heartbreak that have made the television drama so beloved. Snow Falling is a sweeping historical romance set in 1902 Miami—a time of railroad tycoons, hotel booms, and exciting expansion for the Magic City. Working at the lavish Regal Sol hotel and newly engaged to Pinkerton Detective Martin Cadden, Josephine Galena Valencia has big dreams for her future. Then, a figure from her past reemerges to change her life forever: the hotel’s dapper owner, railroad tycoon Rake Solvino. The captivating robber baron sets her heart aflame once more, leading to a champagne-fueled night together. But when their indiscretion results in an unexpected complication, Josephine struggles to decide whether her heart truly belongs with heroic Martin or dashing Rake. Meanwhile, in an effort to capture an elusive crime lord terrorizing the city, Detective Cadden scours the back alleys of the Magic City, tracking the nefarious villain to the Regal Sol and discovering a surprising connection to the Solvino family. However, just when it looks like Josephine’s true heart’s desire is clear, danger strikes. Will her dreams for the future dissolve like so much falling snow or might Josephine finally get the happy ever after she’s been dreaming of for so long?

Past Imperfect


Julian Fellowes - 2008
    He lives alone in a big house in Surrey, England, looked after by a chauffeur, butler, cook and housemaid. He has but one concern—his fortune in excess of 500 million pounds, and who should inherit it on his death. Past Imperfect is the story of a quest. Damian Baxter wishes to know if he has a living heir. By the time he married in his late thirties he was sterile (the result of adult mumps), but what about before that unfortunate illness? Had he sired a child? He sets himself (and others) to the task of finding his heir.

One Summer in Paris


Sarah Morgan - 2019
    But she never expected he’d have a surprise of his own: he wants a divorce. Reeling from the shock but refusing to be broken, a devastated Grace makes the bold decision to go to Paris alone.Audrey, a young woman from London, has left behind a heartache of her own when she arrives in Paris. A job in a bookshop is her ticket to freedom, but with no money and no knowledge of the French language, suddenly a summer spent wandering the cobbled streets alone seems much more likely…until she meets Grace, and everything changes.Grace can’t believe how daring Audrey is. Audrey can’t believe how cautious newly single Grace is. Living in neighboring apartments above the bookshop, this unlikely pair offer each other just what they’ve both been missing. They came to Paris to find themselves, but finding this unbreakable friendship might be the best thing that’s ever happened to them…

Love in Due Time


L.B. Dunbar - 2019
    Naomi Winters will be forty—soon-ish—and she's only been with one man. One night. One time. Long ago. She believes everything happens for a reason, and the universe spoke about him. But when her past stands before her looking sexier than ever with silver scruff and a smirky dimple, she's giving her inner goddess a second listen.Nathan Ryder isn't the same man who hightailed his bike out of Green Valley eighteen years ago. Coming home goes against everything he should do. However, he's always been a rule taker, and women are one area he acts a fool. Case in point—the local librarian. When he encounters her between the stacks, it doesn't matter that he can't get a read on her, he just knows he's not willing to risk losing her. Again.Despite little in common, the stars align in mysterious ways and the due date on their love might not be expired after all.+ + +Love in Due Time the first of The Winters Sisters, romantic tales of silver foxes and feisty vixens in the Green Valley Public Library series, an imprint of Penny Reid's Smartypants Romance.

Blessings


Anna Quindlen - 2002
    In that instant, the lives of those who live and work there are changed forever. Skip Cuddy, the caretaker, finds a baby girl asleep in that box and decides he wants to keep the child . . . while Lydia Blessing, the matriarch of the estate, for her own reasons, agrees to help him. "Blessings" explores how the secrets of the past affect decisions and lives in the present; what makes a person or a life legitimate or illegitimate and who decides; and the unique resources people find in themselves and in a community. This is a powerful novel of love, redemption, and personal change by the Pulitzer Prize-winning writer about whom "The Washington Post Book World" said, "Quindlen knows that all the things we ever will be can be found in some forgotten fragment of family."

Time After Time


Hannah Mary McKinnon - 2016
    . .For fans of Laura Barnett and Dani Atkins, Hannah McKinnon has written a moving story that will resonate with any woman who has ever wondered, in a moment of frustration, “what if?”.Hayley Cooper, a powerful but now struggling lawyer, fantasizes about what her life would be like if only if she’d made different choices. It’s understandable; the past two years have been hell. She barely sees her kids, her boss is trying to sabotage her, and her marriage is falling apart.Burnt out, Hayley goes to sleep wishing for a different life. When she wakes up married to her first boyfriend, one she has not seen in over twenty years, she realizes there might be some truth in the saying “be careful what you wish for”. Over a single weekend, like Ebenezer Scrooge, Hayley gets to see her life on other side of the white picket fence – not just with her first ex, but with each of her past loves. But is the grass always greener, and will she ever want to go home?